Need You Now
by DamonsGurl95
Summary: A year after the beginning of the last ever games Haymitch and Effie miss one another


**Need You Now**

 _A/N: I love the couple that is Hayffie and I have been nervous about writing a story for them especially after reading so many great ones. Need You Now by Lady Antebellum is one of my favourite songs so after listening to it for the billionth time I decided that it was perfect for Hayffie and I had to write this fic. Based after Mockingjay. I hope you all like it :-)_

Today was the day that the pair was usually together preparing for the games as they had done for many years. Today was different, the games no longer existed and they were no longer together. Today they had both spent drowning in memories. They had spent the last year keeping busy to not think about one another, at least in the waking hours. Today they couldn't think of anything other than each other. Today was torture.

Effie was sitting in her apartment looking at photos that she and Haymitch had taken together over the years. It had taken a while for him to see her as a friend but after the tenth anniversary of his games everything had changed between them. To the outside world they looked like they had the potential to be friends but behind closed doors they were much more than that.

Haymitch used to take pictures of her without her make-up and wig on because as far as he was concerned it was such a rare moment that he needed to document it.

Effie came across the first picture that they had taken with Cinna and Portia and felt tears spring into her eyes. They were the only people that knew about her and Haymitch and now they were gone.

Shaking her head from the memory Effie searched for the last picture of her and Haymitch. Portia had taken it before the Quarter Quell announcement, before their lives were turned upside down. It was a rare moment of her without makeup or a wig and of Haymitch with a genuine smile on his face. Tears sprung back to Effie's eyes as she remembered how happy that they had been that day.

"I need you now more than ever," Effie whispered sadly.

She looked over at her phone that was sat a few feet away from her and wondered if he would even answer.

Haymitch was sitting at his kitchen table with a bottle in his hand. He kept looking at the front door. The door that Effie would have been walking through at any moment now if the Games still existed. This time last year she had been crying when she came barging in, terrified that she would be sending him back into the games.

Haymitch took another swig from the bottle and realised that it was empty. He added it to the growing pile on the floor around him and reached into his liquor cabinet to grab another bottle. He had the table and chairs positioned right next to the cabinet so that he wouldn't have to leave his seat to get another drink.

Taking a large gulp of the liquor from the new bottle Haymitch thought about Effie. She had been the one to get him all of the bottles in the cabinet, it had been his reward for staying somewhat sober at some point during the games or the during the prep for them. He wondered if Effie ever thought about him.

He remembered the last time that he had spent with her. She had been her old fake capitol puppet self and he had been a sober version of himself. That last kiss had been his own kind of torture knowing that he had lost any chance of ever getting to kiss those lips again. He had left her behind and that had destroyed any relationship that they had managed to build.

He thought about what she would say if she could see him now. One thing he knew for sure is that she would be disappointed in him for falling back into his old habits. The liquor used to numb the pain but now it just fueled it and he didn't care. He deserved the pain.

"I need you now more than ever," he whispered.

Effie was the only person who had successfully been able to keep him sober for longer than a few hours. Without her here he was sure that he was going to end up drowning in liquor.

Effie had grabbed her phone and had typed in Haymitch's number, all she had to do was hit the call button.

"What if he doesn't want to talk to me? What if he ignores it? What if he's moved on? What if he doesn't miss me like I miss him?" Effie whispered frantically.

She was scared that she had ruined everything by not going with him to 12.

As they both sat wondering about what could've been they came to the same conclusion at the same moment. They were going to be together no matter what it took. They were going to repair their broken hearts and mend the bridges that they had broken with one another.

No longer would this day be associated with painful memories for either of them.

Today would be the start of something new.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this story. It's not exactly what I had planned, it kinda just became it's own thing. If you like it please let me know, I might write another chapter or another Hayffie story.


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